The Phoenix Chronicles
by sangre pura
Summary: In a world where magic is all but dead, Cassiopeia Blackwood discovers her destiny as the Phoenix and the one to bring change. Working for S.H.I.E.L.D and a part of the Avengers, will she be able to stop Loki before his domineering dreams are realized? Loki/OC, AU
1. Dreams

Disclaimer: I own nothing, if I did I would be very, very rich.

"_In dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own."_

_-Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban_

Cassiopeia Blackwood, for all intents and purposes, was a normal girl. She was extremely intelligent, graduating her private academy as valedictorian. She was polite, well-mannered, and well-bred. Stunningly beautiful with raven locks that hung in sculpted curls, a shapely body that all women envied and all men wanted, and piercing, ice blue eyes that would cut you to pieces with their coldness if you crossed her path in the wrong way. Yes, to all appearances, Cassiopeia Blackwood was a normal, intelligent, beautiful girl who came from old money. Except, not all good stories start out with such mundane premises. Indeed! There was one thing that made Cassiopeia Blackwood unique compared to everyone else on the whole planet. She was capable of performing feats of true magic.

Our story starts out on one calm day in Long Island, New York City when Cassiopeia was 5 years old. Cassi, as she insisted on being called, was sick with the flu. Her mother and father, Meredith and Charles, were away on business and the maid was taking care of her. The maid had stepped out for a couple of minutes, content that Cassi wouldn't leave her room, but little Cassi had to potty and hey, she was a big girl, and don't you tell her otherwise! So Cassi quietly opened her door and padded her footie pajama covered feet down the hall to the set of stairs leading to her favorite bathroom, which was decorated in seashells and pictures of mermaids. Cassi, however, didn't know the stairs had recently been waxed and slipped, flying through the air down the steep steps. Petrified by fear she threw her hands out in front of her, bracing for an impact that never came. Upon opening her eyes, she discovered she was _floating. _She giggled a little as she gently set herself back on the ground, and then frowned as she noticed she'd wet herself. She shrugged and trudged back up the stairs. "Oh well," she thought, "not like that's never happened before."

That night, Cassi dreamt. She dreamt of a beautiful golden castle that looked like the pipe organs in church. She dreamt of a sky, forever stuck at twilight, with billions of stars and planets visible on the skyline. That was secondary, however, to the boy she dreamt of. He was a beautiful child, that much was certain. His black hair fell languidly down his perfectly sculpted cheeks, framing intense green orbs the color of the emeralds Cassi often saw her mother wearing. He was currently trailing after an older, bigger boy, who had windswept blonde hair and kind blue eyes. The older boy was obviously bragging about something, she didn't know what because it wasn't in a language she understood, while his black haired companion just had a patient smile on his face, like he'd endured this type of behavior many times past. Both of the boys were richly clothed in silk and leather of obvious high quality. They came upon another group of children, Cassi floating behind like she was pulled by a string. The other children, a girl and 3 boys, all clamored around the blonde boy, the dark haired child standing on the fringes, as if he were just an observer. Cassi then woke up, confused at what she'd dreamt, but figured it was just a product of her fever. The next night, however, proved her incorrect. Again, she dreamt of the dark haired boy, and the next night was the same, repeating for almost a year before her mind could comprehend that she was _dreaming of someone else's life. _She saw him practice magic and fighting skills, though he tended to favor hand-to-hand combat over his brother's love of swords and a hammer, of all things.

After she figured it out, she started studying magic with him, because her logical 6-year old mind deduced that that had been what she'd done that fateful day. She would watch him closely until her dream ended, and when she was alone she would do what he had done. Needless to say, she started levitating objects, floating them to her, and she could also create fire frighteningly easier than the boy could. He would struggle with it, but when Cassi did it, she created a huge ball of flame in her palm. The only thing that annoyed her was she just couldn't understand what language he was speaking! So one day she snuck into her father's office and got onto his computer. She had picked up a few words they had spoken and so she typed them into the search bar. Imagine her surprise, then, when she found out that the boys had been speaking Ancient Norse, of all things. As determined as she was, she could find no resources to study the language. She contented to find and study as many languages as she could. By the time she graduated, she spoke 15 languages, including her much valued Ancient Norse.

For the next 4 years, she studied the magic and hand-to-hand combat she could, increasingly getting better until she could go into the patch of trees behind her family's estate, transfigure a stone into a dummy, and utterly destroy it, giggling all the while. One night, she saw the dark haired boy sitting on his extravagant couch, seemingly in a deep trance. She studied his methods, and the next day she woke up, she went through the same exercises. At first, nothing happened, the only sound her deep breathing. Suddenly, she was thrust into what seemed to be an extremely large, extremely messy library. The only thing out of place was a large golden perch in the middle of the chaos. And sitting upon this golden perch, as if it was the most magnificent of thrones, was a great red and gold bird. He did not look happy.

_"I suppose you must be the scatterbrained girl who calls this mess her __mind."_ Even though the bird didn't move it's beak to speak, the sound echoed around the room like he had just spoken. Incredulous, Cassi looked at the bird and blurted out, "Who are you?"

The bird seemed to sigh, and then straightening up, he replied, _"My former companion called me Fawkes. You may as well."_ Still dumbfounded, Cassi walked closer until she was standing just in front of him.

"This is my mind?" She asked wondrously, looking at the great oak bookcases, each labeled with something different that she had already learned, such as maths, sciences, history, languages, and magic. There were smaller stands that seemed to be filled with random things, and the books and pages on the ground appeared to be inconsequential thoughts she'd had. There seemed to be a lot of those.

_"Obviously,"_ he seemed to snort, _"this space contains all of your knowledge and memories. The most curious, though, is that shelf over there."_ With that, he seemed to indicate a space behind her, and as she turned around, she realized there were 4 massive shelves of books with heaps of random thoughts piled around it. Above it all, there was a series of portraits of the boy from her dreams, whom she had deduced was named Loki, and they ranged from when she first saw him until just last night's dream.

"Yes," she breathed, "I have been seeing this boy in my dreams since I was 5." She turned to Fawkes and said, "Is there anything you can tell me about him?" He seemed to think for a few seconds before he said, _"Yes, I can, but for some reason there is some force not allowing me to."_ She sighed in exasperation, then said, "Well, the only Loki I could possibly find was an old Norse legend about him being the God of Mischief, but that's slightly impossible, considering those legends came to be over a millenia ago. Unless I'm somehow seeing into his past."

As she grew up and continuously dreamt of him, he seemed to get more and more sad over the years. The once carefree attitude he showed reduced to a shadow of itself, only surfacing when he thought it would please someone. She watched as he became more introverted, participating in pitched battles between his older brother and his friends only when the older boy dragged him to do so. He immersed himself in books, surpassing even the teachers he had in his magical studies. Eventually he had to resort to old, musty books and experimentation to learn anything new. The people in his fathers court eventually looked upon him in distrust, because one of his favorite past-times was pranking and tricks. She watched as his brother could break a priceless vase and people would only smile, pat him on the head and send him on his way. Pulling herself out of her morbid thoughts, she turned back to the majestic bird.

"What exactly are you, Fawkes?" She asked curiously.

Fawkes looked at her pensively for a minute, and then said, _"I'm a phoenix, a creature of fire and immortality. When my former companion passed on, I allowed myself to be consumed by magic until __someone worthy would need me for their guidance."_ He paused here, lost in thought, before he said, _"Cassiopeia Blackwood, you should not have been born in this universe. Your soul was supposed to come to life in the universe I was originally from. Magic saw fit to bring you here, for a purpose greater than the one you would've had there. In that world, there are many like you. You would've been born into much the same life, but your life would have been mediocre, with the only worth you would have would be your blood and your value as a wife. Here, you serve a higher purpose, as you are the only magical __being__ currently on this Earth. Your destiny is great."_

Cassi was momentarily stunned as she contemplated these words, especially the fact that he had called her a creature instead of human. Shrugging them off, for they did not pertain to the here and now, she voiced a concern she'd been having.

"Lately, Fawkes, I've been having trouble channeling some of the more powerful magics I've picked up. Is there anything I can do?" Fawkes looked closely at her before nodding his head.

_"Yes, this is not the only form I can have. I can materialize myself in your world and provide a key ingredient you will need to channel the higher level magic. You will need to go to a forest, and let your magic expand until you feel a pulling sensation towards a tree. You will need to harvest the branch on that tree that calls heavily to you, and I will supply the core for that. Are you ready for this, young Cassi?"_ Cassi shook her head excitedly, and quickly exited her mindscape. She saw that barely 30 minutes had passed, so she happily skipped her way out into the copse of trees behind her house that served as her training ground. Standing in the center of the clearing, she let her magical senses expand until she felt that tugging sensation. She followed it over to a large willow, and she plucked a good sized stick off of the very bottommost branch. She was startled when Fawkes appeared before her in a burst of flame and watched as he settled on a sapling next to a log.

_"Ah, willow, it symbolizes magic, healing, inner visions, and dreams. Very fitting. Next you must let you__r__ magic run smoothly through the wood. It will shape into what you need it to be. I will supply a feather and soak it in my tears to form your core. Your wand will be very powerful."_

Cassi slowly breathed in and out and let her magic wash over the piece of wood she held in between both hands. Slowly, she felt the rough wood become smooth with no bumps in it, and when she opened her eyes, her breath caught in her throat. The honey-colored wood shone in the light filtering through the leaves. The wand itself was pin-straight, coming to a deadly looking point at the end and tapering off to become perfectly conical. The handle, however, was magnificent. There was a slight ridge before it smoothed out, coming to form the head of a beautifully carved figure of a phoenix. The details of it were incredible; it's beak was opened in a fierce cry and the feathers stood out in stark detail. The soft chuckle of Fawkes broke her from her stupor. Without a word, a long tail feather dropped to the forest floor. Cassi picked it up and watched as Fawkes tilted his head to the side. She held it under his eye and watched as he cried pearly tears along the whole length of it. Silently, just knowing what she had to do, she delicately laid the feather down on top of the length of wood. She held her hands above the wood and feather, and gently let her magic surround both. As she watched, the feather sunk into the wood, and between the beak of the phoenix shimmered a blood red stone. The eyes of the phoenix changed into beautiful emeralds as well, earning a noise of surprise from Fawkes. Cassi stared, awestruck, at the creation before her. Hesitantly, she reached a hand out and grasped the handle, and gasped in surprise and awe at the power that flowed through her. A huge myriad of gold and burgundy sparks flew out of the wand, forming a phoenix that gave out a silent cry before dissipating into motes of light that drifted to the ground. With wide-eyes, she turned to Fawkes. The only thing Fawkes could think of, was, _"This girl is going to be great."_


	2. Growing Up

About this story: This little idea has been driving me crazy for a while now. Tell me what you think?

"_Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas."_

_-Barty Crouch Jr., impersonating Alistair "Mad-Eye" Moody, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_

Time skip: 5 years

Loki had been feeling... odd, was the correct word. At times, his well-honed instincts from sneaking around would tingle, alerting him to the fact that someone was watching him. It happened everywhere, in his room, the library, the great hall, even when Thor would drag him to "battle" with he and his friends. Not even Heimdall gave him that feeling, and that man saw _everything._ He would never admit it, but his paranoia grew until he was flinching even from the tiniest of creaks in his bed frame, or the smallest draft that wafted through the ridiculously large palace he called home. One night, while he was sleeping, he started dreaming of the Frost Giants. As he twisted and turned in his bed, a ghostly touch brushed across his brow and a whispered phrase, _"It's alright,"_ flitted across his consciousness. He sighed deeply and fell back into his dreams, but this time, he dreamt of a beautiful girl with curly black hair and enchanting blue eyes smiling at him. When he awoke, he had thought he had imagined things, but then he remembered that the language she spoke wasn't Asgardian, it was one of the _Midgardian tongues._

That night, as Loki strolled through the Everlasting Gardens, he contemplated the mystery of this girl. He had sometimes observed Midgard, but they were very primitive and certainly none who spoke that language, English they called it, had the accent she had. And the clothes that she had been wearing were definitely not anything he'd ever seen. He sat down on a bubbling fountains edge and _stretched_ his senses out in a way that he hadn't done when he felt this particular feeling. There was a brief moment when there was nothing, and then there was _something_ that brushed across his senses. It felt like his magic, but different; the only way he could describe it was sleepy, and definitely not of this world. There was something familiar there though, and his thoughts drifted back to the girl in his dream, soft comforting words whispered to his tortured mind and beauty like none he had seen.

"Who are you?" he whispered in English, and he may have imagined it, but he thought he heard a breathy answer.

_"Cassiopeia..."_

* * *

Cassi woke with a start. Nothing like that had ever happened before. She had _touched_ him, and he had felt so real. At 15 years old, she had come to accept that who she had been observing for 10 years was a mythical God from a mythical plane and he was almost a thousand years old. She had also accepted that she was seeing into his past; all accounts of Loki on this planet depicted him and his brother as being older, and warriors. So now, she had to come to terms with the fact that she was not only seeing his past, _she was actually in the past. _She had, of course, studied the theory of astral projection, and possibly having the power to see the past, but nothing had prepared her for being apparently able to time-travel and astral project at the same time, while she was unconscious. She breathed in deeply and traveled to her mindscape, as she had named it, to categorize this new thought.

Her mindscape was nothing like the first time she had been there, Fawkes had made sure of that. Every book was shelved in chronological order according to subject, all stray thoughts had been filed, all the random pieces of information or memories were displayed as beautiful objects and statues depicting what happened. The most impressive, though, were her shelves dedicated to Loki. They were impossibly tall, made of onyx stone and emerald inlays. The portraits of him had grown from five to ten, each depicting a particular memory Cassi had observed. All of the speculations she had about him, about why she was seeing him, were rolled up into scrolls and shelved on a row of half-shelves that reached waist height. The memories were kept in delicate, black leather bound books, with green and silver writing on the cover that described what the book was about. She picked up the only book on the ground, the one that depicted what had happened last night, and practically sprinted towards Fawkes.

"Fawkes, you have to watch what happened last night!" She said breathlessly, watching as he gave her an annoyed look for waking him from his slumber. He sighed, nodded, and stretched out his beak to become immersed in the memory. Instantly, Cassi and Fawkes were observing through her eyes what had happened. She imagined that if Fawkes' eyes could get any larger, he'd look extremely comical. As the memory ended, Fawkes turned to her and stared.

And stared. _"I have never heard of anyone able to do that. Ever. And I'm a phoenix."_ She blushed just a little, before clearing her metaphorical throat and said, "Well, can you speculate on what this might mean?" Fawkes just shook his head and replied, _"I will contemplate on it, but I can promise you no straight answers, just conjecture." _Cassi nodded her head gratefully, before she exited her mindspace, leaving Fawkes to grumble about "Needy girls, who can accomplish the impossible. Bah."

* * *

When Cassi had been 7, her parents had expressed their want for her to take ballet. She had shot that down in a second, but compromised that she would take ballroom dancing classes if she was also allowed to learn horseback riding and martial arts. Befuddled, her parents had asked why she would want to do an art such as that, so she had demonstrated the hand-to-hand techniques she had learned in her observations of Loki. They had been suitably impressed.

Eight years later, she had already exceeded and surpassed most martial arts disciplines she had trained in. She mastered karate, judo, jujitsu, and her favorite, kendo, which taught how to fight with swords. Combining those arts together made her an extremely unpredictable and deadly fighter. She had also learned archery, and was really good at it, enough so that she could hit an apple from 200 yards away while riding a horse.

What made her parents extremely proud, though, was her intelligence. It became obvious when she was 7, after learning to speak German and Italian, that she was smart. She was considered intelligent after she learned Spanish and French by 8, consequently also testing out of 2nd and 3rd grade. She became known as prodigal when she learned Japanese, Mandarin, and Arabic by the time she was 10 and was now going into the 6th grade. By 9th grade, she had already learned Hindi, Korean, Indonesian, Russian, Polish, Latin, Ancient Norse, and Dutch. When she graduated as valedictorian at the age of 16, she was offered a full scholarship to MIT, Harvard, Oxford, Berkeley, Stanford, and a whole host of other Ivy League schools. So it came as somewhat of a surprise when she enrolled at MIT for engineering, physics, and nuclear sciences.

Cassiopeia Blackwood was smug. At 23 years old, she had exceeded every single personal objective she had set for herself as a little girl. As she looked out over the crowd of people, watching her give her speech as valedictorian of her graduating class at MIT, she pondered how she had gotten here in her life. She remembered the day that she had snuck into her father's office, cloaked in so much magic that if someone touched her they still wouldn't notice her, to sneak through his files. He was a consummate politician, her mother the perfect trophy wife. They loved each other, and her, but business was first and had always been that way. Feeling a little dejected, as it was her birthday and no one was around to celebrate, she decided to find what secret things her dad hid as the Senator of New York. She sent out magic to find hidden places, and found 3: a safe in the wall, a hidden drawer in the desk, and a trap door under a rug. She distantly noted all the secret things her dad had; blackmail on other politicians, bank statements from a Swiss bank account, usually things you would hide if you were a politician. Her interest was piqued, however, when she came upon an official, classified file on a secret branch of the military called the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. _"Well that's certainly a mouthfull,"_ she had thought sardonically. As she read, however, she saw that this department was what dealt with happenings like Captain America, and she saw they needed very smart people. She had decided, then and there, that to spite her parents, she would try to get a job there, because wasn't daddy always complaining about the military and stuff like this? Now, as she stood there, giving her speech with Ph. D's in Thermonuclear Astrophysics, Mechanical Engineering, and History, with Master degrees in Languages and Ancient Norse Mythology, she smirked secretly to herself. _"Let the games begin."_

* * *

Well, she thought to herself, at least I got what I wanted. It hadn't even been 30 minutes after the ceremony before a man in the classic government black suit, black tie, and black sunglasses approached her. He was a little taller than her 5' 10", with brown hair, brown eyes, and a kindly face.

"Miss Blackwood," he began in a slightly bland tone of voice that made her smirk, "allow me to introduce myself. My name is Agent Coulson, and I represent a branch of the government that wishes to speak to you about job opportunities." She shook his hand, and as her father was watching curiously, she decided to mess with the man and her father a little.

"May I ask what branch of the military you work for?" she said, deliberately not saying government to see if he caught on. She was slightly disappointed when he did catch on, but now he was looking curiously at her.

"What makes you think I work for the military?" he asked, playing along, testing to see what she might know. He certainly didn't expect her next answer.

"Please, Agent Coulson, I think we both know that your _division_ has been scouting me since high school. What I want to know, is why should I join your organization?" she replied with a bored tone of voice, though the light in her eyes showed him she was enjoying this immensely. She gave him credit for not stuttering or gaping like a fool, but his moment of hesitation and slight widening of his eyes gave away what he was thinking. This girl was basically casually discussing the military's best kept secret. He narrowed his eyes slightly, flickering them towards her father, who had caught on and was glaring at the back of her head. His eyes came back to her face, to see the smug smirk stretch across her lips briefly, before returning to a polite mask of boredom. He _understood, _now. She had seen the file years ago, saw the list of who their organization wanted to recruit and their specialties. She had gone to MIT just so they would notice her, because she wanted to work there. Her father had apparently noticed this as well.

"Cassiopeia!" Charles Blackwood hissed, and as she turned around she let an innocent smile come to her face. "Yes father?" she replied, eyes wide.

"Did you deliberately do this?" He thundered, gesturing vaguely at her valedictorian robes and accolades she carried under one arm. "Did you deliberately deceive your mother and I to get what you wanted?"

"But of course, father, I always listened and payed attention to what you did, after all. You honestly have no right to be angry at me for employing your own tactics against you. Of course, I came upon that file one of the many birthdays that you and mum missed. It was the best birthday present you ever gave me, actually." She said this all with a smile on her face, but her eyes were cold and steely.

She turned back to Coulson and said, "I'm sorry, Agent Coulson, but I have to refuse your offer at the time. I plan to travel abroad for a while, to learn as much as I can, before I will even think of employment. I have worked very hard for all of this, but now it's time for me to take a vacation." With that, she spun around, brushed past her shell-shocked father, and disappeared into the crowd.

She had apparated back to her home, pulled out the suitcase she had already packed along with her purse, which had about $100,000 cash in it, her passport, and called out, "Ok Fawkes, lead the way!" With a cry of happiness, Fawkes flashed into existence, landed on her shoulder, and flashed away again, Cassi in tow, leaving only a letter to her mother behind.


	3. Living

"_It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that."_

_-Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_

"_Dear Mother,_

_ I know Father's probably spitting mad right about now, but please understand that it was my choice to do this. I know you've always wanted what is best for me, but neither of you considered what I thought was best for me, outside of the lessons you let me attend. You always expected me to follow in one of your footsteps, and I know I disappointed you with my choice of career, but I was always meant for something more than politics or being a house-wife._

_ Father may or may not have explained S.H.I.E.L.D to you, but I feel that is a grave injustice to you to not understand the reasons behind my decisions. S.H.I.E.L.D is an organization that protects this world from the forces of true evil, against those who would see us all enslaved or dead. With my considerable skill set, I would be an extreme asset to them, after I am finished learning, of course._

_ Please Mother, do not worry for me. You know that I can take care of myself. I love you and Father with all of my heart, but I had to stop doing things for the two of you, and start doing things for me._

_Love,_

_Your Daughter,_

_Cassiopeia Blackwood"_

With a burst of flame, Cassi and Fawkes arrived in front of a shimmering lake. Taking stock of their surroundings, they were both surprised to see the structure in front of them completely intact. Stretching out her senses, Cassi felt for the legendary wards surrounding the place. They were still completely active, and even now thrummed in happiness at her entrance. Fawkes trilled happily at seeing his home for more than a hundred years had not fallen into disrepair. He had had a theory about what had happened to magic on this Earth, and it seems he was right.

Indeed, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry still stood in it's imposing glory, just like the day it had been built.

_"It seems that a stasis was put upon this land. Even now, the wards stretch 4 times further than they did in my world. Our arrival has broken the stasis, it seems."_ Fawkes trilled from his perch on her shoulder, before taking flight towards the massive front doors. Sighing, Cassi trooped up the path after him. _Really,_ she thought,_ he acts like a child even though he's who knows how old._ Reaching the front doors, all she did was lightly touch them before her hand was sucked flat upon the surface and a sharp pain erupted in her palm.

"Ouch!" she cried as her hand was released, and the slit on her palm healed quickly. A rumbling was heard as the doors opened by themselves, showing a magnificent hall with portraits that were just awakening. Following Fawkes, she headed up the stairs to where the Headmaster's Office was, trying to block out the whisperings of the portraits. They arrived, and she laid her hand on the stone gargoyle, who seemed to contemplate her, before he moved aside to let them access the winding staircase. When they opened up the door at the top, both Cassi and Fawkes were shocked at what they saw.

* * *

If Cassi and Fawkes had been shocked to see life-sized portraits of the four founders, they were completely speechless when the portrait of Godric Gryffindor had loudly boomed, "Ah! Our heir! What year is it?" He didn't get an immediate answer, considering the object of his attention had collapsed to the floor unconscious while her phoenix companion had squawked and had to take flight to avoid being earthbound as well. So Fawkes had sat on the back of a gilded chair, staring at each portrait in turn, making Salazar Slytherin mutter something about "creepy birds and foolish girls".

When Cassi stirred awake, the first thing she saw was Fawkes, and in a calm tone of voice she asked, "Fawkes. Please tell me that there are not 4 life-sized portraits of Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw proclaiming me to be their heir." With a mournful trill, Fawkes confirmed her fears when he just nodded his head in the direction of the portraits. With a groan, Cassi covered her face and turned back to the portraits.

"How is that possible." Cassi said flatly as she eyed the 4 portraits in front of her. Fawkes also had an incredulous look in his eye. The 3rd portrait from the left gave an exasperated sigh before speaking.

"You idiot child! The only way you could have opened this castle, let alone coming to this office in the first place, was if you were all of ours heir!"

"Now Salazar, that isn't a nice thing to say to the poor girl. I'm sure this is a major shock to her! Certainly, finding out we've been sleeping for over 700 years was a shock to me!" scolded the portrait to the far left, showing a kindly woman with blonde hair and blue eyes who could only be Helga Hufflepuff. Cassi sighed, shook her head, and said, "No. I mean how is it possible for me to be your heir? When did all of your lines mix together?" Rowena got a knowing look on her face.

"You see, child, this all happened long after we were dead. When we died, our paintings came to life, and everything was fine for a couple of hundred years. Then, in about the year 1200, we noticed that magical children were being born less and less. As our lines were very powerful, my direct heir married Salazar's, and Helga's direct heir married Godric's. Mine and Salazar's child was a boy, while Helga and Godric's was a girl, so they married as well. The child of that joining, a young girl who's name was Cassiopeia, was one of the last witches alive by that point. Vainly attempting to produce a magical child, she married the Lord Blackwood, one of the last wizards left. Their son, however, was born a squib. Soon after, Cassiopeia came to the school, one last time, to put us into an eternal sleep, until one day, perhaps, a Blackwood would return to open the school and revive magic." Cassi was silent as she contemplated her fate, before sighing because nothing could be done about it.

"Why do you think magic died out until me, though? I mean, I'm ridiculously powerful. I use a wand to learn a new spell, but after learning it, it's really easy for me to do it wandlessly as well. And, to top it all off, my animagus form is a phoenix! Fawkes said that was impossible!" Cassi said exasperatedly. The founders all shared a glance with each other, which she caught, and she narrowed her eyes and spat out, "I know you know something. Now spit it out before you find out why I'm a phoenix!"

With that, she flicked her fingers and a large ball of fire appeared in her hand. Their eyes widened and Godric hopped out of his chair and shouted, "WAIT! OK! We don't know much, we only had a few clues and a lot of speculation!" She nodded her head and extinguished the flames, only Slytherin managing not to show how relieved he was. Taking a deep breath, Godric started speaking.

"While I was on my deathbed, the last of us to die, I was visited by a cloaked man. He came in the dead of the night, and honestly I thought he was there to kill me, but then he pulled down his hood and I knew he was not of this world. The man was large, larger than I in my prime, with skin as dark as the soil and eyes the color of gold. It was his eyes that gave him away as alien; they swirled with light and billions of stars. He gave me a measured look, as if looking at my soul, nodded, and said, '_One day, the Magics of this place will abandon your people. She will be angry, and hurt; thou who have corrupted her, twisted her for evil and greed will be punished for she will take away your gifts, and your knowledge will be lost until one she deems fit is born. She has watched you just as I have, Godric Gryffindor, for you and the 3 other who tried __in vain__ to spread her goodness are children of mine own kin. Now, the kin to you 4 will be the redeemer of your race; a girl-child, with a name as beautiful as she, as immortal as the bird of fire, she will revive this Magicless Earth, and shall be it's Queen, for that is repayment for all that she had done.'_ With the shock of that, I died, and when I woke up as this portrait, I immediately told the other 3 of what had just occured. Helga said I had met with Heimdall, the One Who Sees All, a God from Asgard. For years we contemplated what it meant, until Cassiopeia was born, with a name as beautiful as she. When she failed to revive magic, we lost hope. The only thing we managed to get done, before our sleep, was when the Magna Carta was signed, there was a hidden part to do with the state of the magical world. It basically says that if the magical world is near extinction that the heir to us 4 will be able to claim the Throne of the Magical World to revive our kind."

Cassi was slack-jawed. She tried to assimilate all of the information she learned, that she was immortal, she was the founders' heir, that she'd been prophesized to return the magical world to it's former glory as it's Queen, that she had Asgardian blood in her and that it was apparently very strong. For the second time that day, she passed into sweet oblivion, her mind having had too much strain to continue to operate.

* * *

After that day, she continued on with her life. Rowena Ravenclaw's greatest creation, the Room of Requirement, became her saving grace. It was built over the point of two crossing ley lines, and the magic was extremely potent, allowing the founders to regain corporeal form, if only in that room. For the next two years, she trained and learned all she could from some of the greatest wizards and witches who ever walked this Earth. She became more powerful than all four, and soon they were comparing her to Merlin himself. In that time, all manner of magical creatures flocked to the grounds of Hogwarts. It was a beautiful sight to see centaurs, unicorns, dragons, and even merpeople in the lake getting along with each other. When asked, the creatures revealed they had been slumbering, having retreated to the most naturally magical places in the world to escape what they began to call The Great Purge. They felt the call of magic, alerting them that their champion had come and accepted her destiny. However, Cassiopeia still had things she needed to do. So, it was on the eve of her 25th birthday that she was preparing to say goodbye to them all.

"Why must you leave again?" drawled Salazar Slytherin, as surly as ever, but with a gentle look to his face that Cassi deciphered as fondness.

"There are things I still must do. I have obligations to the people I left behind in America. The creatures here need to start rebuilding, start to establish their lives again. I will not be gone forever, you know that, but my destiny doesn't just lie here." she responded with a soft smile. They had all participated in a very long discussion and liberal use of a pensieve to watch the memories she had of Loki. They speculated on the significance that she saw only him, that she was always pulled to where he was. They concluded that their paths were tightly intertwined, that maybe knowing him as well as she did, she might be able to help him someway, somehow. She bid her goodbyes to everyone, as she would be leaving early the next morning, and as she fell asleep, she was instantly drawn to Loki.

He was standing on what she came to know as the Rainbow Bridge, speaking with Heimdall and enquiring about the Bi Frost. Heimdall was patiently explaining that Loki would have to as the Allfather about it, because it wasn't his place to tell. As Loki turned away, Heimdall looked directly at her and she was frozen in place from being pulled after Loki.

_"Cassiopeia Blackwood,"_ he said in a deep, rich baritone, _"you have started on your path, but up ahead you will face challenges. Loki will eventually fall victim to his bitterness, and when he does, only you will be able to save him."_ With a nod, he released her from the hold he had over her and she sped off like the link between Loki and her was a stretched rubber band. She swore Heimdall had a small smirk on his face. When she reached where Loki was, she took a good look at him. He had only gotten more handsome as he grew, with a strong jaw, high cheekbones, and an aristocratic nose. His eyes shone with power, seeming to swirl with a light within, but his visage was clouded with what seemed like perpetual anger. She knew he was bitter, she saw how he was treated and couldn't help but sympathize. As she always did when he was brooding, right before she felt her consciousness return to her, she stroked his cheek with her ghostly hands and watched as his face relaxed and a small sigh escaped his lips.

* * *

The next day, she gathered everything she owned and grasped Fawkes' tail feathers before being flamed away. She landed in the clearing behind her house, where she spent so much time honing her abilities as a child. Walking down the overgrown path, she took in the sight of her childhood home. Her parent's cars were all there, a rarity, so at least she could get this out of the way. Soon enough, her mother had burst through the back door and came running top speed right into her. Her hug was extremely tight and her words were a garbled mess of tears and I'm sorry's and how dare you's. Her father looked on with an unreadable face, before he cracked and hugged her just as tightly as her mother was. When they separated, they went inside to dinner, and Cassi sighed, because she knew that her parents would want to have a long talk.

It was four days after her return that he showed up at the door. She gave him credit, that he didn't immediately show up the same day. As the servant led her to the drawing room, she reminisced about the last time she had met Agent Coulson.

"Good afternoon, Agent Coulson, I trust that you are well?" She said as she gracefully sat on the settee.

"I am well, Miss Blackwood, we were pleased to hear that you had returned." He accepted the tea the servant handed him with a murmured thanks, before politely sipping and awaiting a response.

"Please, call me Cassiopeia. Yes, I had learned all that I could where I went. It feels good to be back home." She said with a polite smile, and knew that now the pleasantries were out of the way, the real business would resume.

"Then call me Phil, Cassiopeia. It is curious, though, that after you left, we could not find you anywhere. S.H.I.E.L.D is very good at finding people of interest, but you just... disappeared."

"You wouldn't have, Phil. You see, I have a very special skill set, one that no one else in the world has. I inherited it from my father's family, back when our ancestor was the Lord Blackwood of Yorkshire, England. It is this reason that I would be one of your most valuable assets, besides the facts that I know various disciplines of martial arts, 15 languages, and have doctorates and masteries in several subjects." She leaned back, pleased to see that he was slightly dumbfounded, as she had eluded their watchers and had a complete skill set they didn't even know about. She sipped her tea and waited, and when he saw she wasn't going to continue, he took her bait.

"And what would this special skill set be, Cassiopeia?" He asked, genuinely curious. He hoped Fury was getting all this.

"It's simple, Phil. I can do magic." She waited until he comprehended what she had said. She didn't, however, anticipate the normally stoic man laughing in her face. So, with a swift movement, she pulled out her wand, flicked it in his direction, and suddenly his suit was pink and he was sporting a polka-dotted neon green afro complete with a painted face. Seeing his shocked look, she quickly took a picture on his phone, and sent it to the contact he had labeled "Director".

"Do you believe me now, Phil?" Openly amused was the only way to describe her tone. It had affected her parents much the same way when she had informed them of her abilities. "This is exactly why I would be invaluable to S.H.I.E.L.D. Changing the color of things is definitely not the only thing that I can do." The shrill ringtone of his phone, flashing "Director", broke him from his stupor. He quickly answered, and Cassiopeia only heard yelling from "Director", uh-huh's and okay's from Phil, and then a yelled, "AND RECRUIT HER RIGHT NOW!" She smirked smugly at the camera that was in the button of his suit, unknowingly looking directly at Nick Fury, who only shook his head and said, "What's next, mythological Gods?"

* * *

One week after her meeting with Phil, she had moved out of her parent's home and bought a large penthouse in New York City. She had unpacked with magic, to make it go faster, and now she was on her way to display her full range of abilities to S.H.I.E.L.D and meet her new boss. She arrived promptly at 7am to find a welcoming committee composed of a large black man with an eye-patch, obviously Director Nick Fury, Phil, a man with blonde-brown hair and blue eyes who seemed to be wielding a bow, and an extremely attractive woman with shocking red hair.

"Good morning, Agent Blackwood. Today you will be showing us all of your abilities so that we can find which team suits you best." Fury said in a slightly condescending way, as if she would fail miserably and be stuck with a desk job.

"Certainly," she replied, "please, lead the way." She was lead down a long hallway as Phil introduced her to the man and woman, Agent Barton, codename Hawkeye and Agent Romanoff, codename Black Widow. Romanoff snidely asked what her codename would be, so Cassi simply replied, "Phoenix."

They reached the training room, and when those who were training saw who had arrived, they all gathered along the walls to watch this new recruit show her skills.

"What should I show you first?" She asked Fury politely, and watched as he battled with himself to not seem too eager.

"Your hand-to-hand skills. Agent Romanoff will spar with you." The woman seemed to smile slightly sadistically, while Barton looked sympathetic. Well, she would have to show them, wouldn't she?

The two women faced off, circling each other to see if there were any weaknesses. Romanoff struck first, slightly annoyed that Cassi didn't seem very nervous. Cassi blocked, and returned with a strike of her own, and it was on. The two danced around each other in a macabre sort of way, landing hits and kicks, neither one ever getting predictable. Suddenly, Cassi saw an opening, and she leaped up and landed on the outstretched arm that was going to punch her in the ribs. She sprung again, going vertically above her opponent, grabbing onto the startled woman's shoulders, and twisted in a way that ended with Romanoff on her stomach with her arms bound behind her back and legs pinned to the floor. The red head struggled a second, realized the futility, and went slack with defeat. As Cassi got up, she extended her hand to Romanoff, who accepted it, and said, "Thanks, Romanoff. I haven't had a spar like that in years. You almost got me there a few times." Romanoff looked at her, searching for duplicity, before nodding her head with a small smile and saying, "Yeah, you too. We'll have to do that again sometime."

When they turned to face their crowd, there were a lot of stunned faces, including Barton and Phil's. Cassi accepted a bottle of water and said, "What next?" Fury looked at her, studying her face, before nodding to the targets for archery. Cassi simply nodded, grabbed a bow off of the wall, and went down past the line of targets. Everyone looked confused, until she started running down the line of them, doing impressive gymnastics while shooting the arrows in the middle of some of the moves. With the last target, she shot an arrow in the bulls-eye and followed it up with another arrow that split the first. She returned the bow and quiver to the wall, while everyone was still staring at her in shock, before she turned to Fury with a raised brow and said, "Next?"

And so it went, test after test, displaying her knowledge of thermonuclear astrophysics to sword fighting to the languages she could speak. Finally, though, was the main attraction. Magic.

"Alright, Agent Blackwood, you've impressed me so far. Now I would like to see this so called magic you used to turn one of my Agent's uniform pink and make his hair a polka-dotted afro." Fury said, while everyone started whispering and trying to get good seats. With a wide smirk, Cassi complied.

She blasted things. She created large fireballs and launched them at dummies. She apparated around the room, scaring the shit out of some of the Agents. She turned the gun on one of the agent's into a salmon. She created tornadoes, brought down lightening, and generally displayed her impressive destructive magic. She turned to one Agent, who looked to be new, stunned him, and then revived him the next second. Finally, though, for the finale, she turned to the group and said, "This is why they call me Phoenix." And with that parting shot, to all of the awestruck faces, she turned into a magnificent red and golden bird, and trilled a loud song of hope and faith, before flaming from one end of the training room to right in front of Fury. She trilled at his dumbfounded expression in what could only be laughter before changing back. There was silence, before a loud cheer rang out from the gathered Agents, who knew that this was one of their greatest assets and the turning of the tides for the Good Guys.

Cassi looked around, blushed, then turned to Fury and said, "So... how did I do?"


	4. Choices

"_It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.__"_

_-Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets_

Immediately after her rather impressive show of her powers, Cassi was fast-tracked through the Agent Training Program and paired with Agents Barton and Romanoff. While she was good at hand-to-hand and archery, the agents she came to know as very good friends were better, so they utilized her skills in magic and sword fighting the most. After countless missions and near-death experiences (for them, at least) she could honestly call them her closest friends. Clint was her best friend, though, and they had bonded over a love of pranking and raunchy jokes. Natasha and Phil always looked on with fond exasperation whenever they pulled their antics. Phil had also become a lot closer to her, bringing her under his wing and mentoring her, as a father-figure even. He had been impressed, and not a little embarrassed, to be so caught off guard when she had pranked him. She teased him about his mother-hen like attitude towards her, Natasha, and Clint, and about his tendency to take in strays. He had just smiled his mysterious little smile, because there wasn't any malice in her words, only fondness.

So, when she was called to his office alone, she knew something was different. In the two years she'd been working for S.H.I.E.L.D, she'd never once been sent on a solo mission.

"What can I do for you, sir?" she asked as she softly closed the door behind her. She knew he hated it when people slammed his door.

"I've got a solo mission for you, Agent Blackwood, or, for this mission, should I say Dr. Blackwood?" he said with a small smirk, and she groaned because she knew no good would come of this.

"In a small town called Puenta Antiguo, New Mexico, a doctor by the name of Jane Foster has set up shop studying odd atmospheric anomalies and occasionally the theory of the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. We'd like for you to attach yourself to their research group and assess the probability of her and her research becoming an asset to S.H.I.E.L.D. Also joining her is Dr. Erik Selvig, whom you are acquainted, and an intern, Darcy Lewis. We'd like for you to contact her today, and see if you can fly out and join them ASAP, preferably tomorrow or the next day."

With a considering nod, she accepted. She contacted Dr. Foster not 30 minutes later, and after validation from Dr. Selvig that she wasn't another incompetent, she was scheduled to fly out to Albuquerque the next day and drive a rental to the small town. She smiled to herself, this was going to be easy. Nothing could go wrong, right?

* * *

Sometimes, Cassi wished she'd think before she believed stupid shit like that. Everything had been fine, for the first several months. She somehow formed a bond with Dr. Foster, who she could sympathize with for being an attractive woman in this line of work. Most people just indulged them, until you proved them wrong, that is. Cassi had saved her ass multiple times in only a week from being harassed by the locals, which made Dr. Foster tell her to drop the honorific and just call her Jane. She had told Jane to just call her Cassi.

Darcy Lewis was an extremely interesting character, Cassi had found out the first day she was there. They had also formed a strong bond, not one of equal intellect and respect like her and Jane had, but of actual friendship. She found that Darcy loved raunchy jokes and innuendo filled conversation just as much as her and Clint did. Darcy loved her music and by extension, her iPod so much that it seemed slightly unhealthy. When Jane went on one of her three day binges of coffee, poptarts, and no sleep, Cassi and Darcy would sit and look at funny pictures of cats and other inane things on the internet. It was easier for them to bond because Darcy was 23 and Cassi was 27, and they enjoyed doing things like go to the local bar and chug boilermakers with Erik, or sit on the roof with margaritas with Jane and stare at the stars as she rambled about this constellation or that.

Nothing that Cassi told them was a lie. She told them that she worked for the government and heard about the project and was really interested (because she actually, really was and enjoyed using her hard-earned doctorates for something like this). She told them that she was really good at martial arts, archery, and sword fighting because they kept her healthy and sane. She in turn, learned that Darcy was a political science major instead of an actual scientist, but was the only intern applicant so she was accepted, and that she loved working with Jane. Cassi told her if she graduated, she could get a job being a liaison between Jane and whoever. Jane absolutely loved that idea, as she didn't want any other assistant. Ever. She also learned that Jane loved the special edition pop-tarts the 7-11 always had, so she made sure to clean the store out whenever they were in stock. This month it was Frosted Strawberry and Banana Cream Tart.

The only thing that was a dampener to her was her sleep schedule. Jane always insisted on going out at midnight and not returning until dawn, so Cassi had to compensate by sleeping during the day. Usually all she got to see Loki do in these times, was sleep. She had already lived through his entire life, and she figured that now she was in "real-time", so to speak.

So it was a surprise to her that, when she entered her dreams, it wasn't beautiful Asgard she saw, but a cold and barren wasteland. Her heart dropped a little, this was Jötunheimr, she was certain of it. Suddenly, the sounds of battle started behind her, and she turned around to see Thor, Loki, Sif, and the Warriors Three engaging monstrous humanoids in battle. She floated after Loki, as one by one he killed the creatures, using his tricks and his magic to do massive damage. She heard Volstagg shout out to not let them touch your bare skin, so she was surprised and slightly horrified to see that when Loki was grabbed about the wrist, his skin merely started to turn blue. She watched as his face closed off, and put this revelation on the back burner, as she wrapped her arms around his form and stroked his cheek, even as he kept fighting. _"Shh," she whispered, "you're not a monster,"_ was the mantra she repeated to him over and over, giving him the strength to fight. She felt herself start to gain consciousness, and realized Jane was shaking her awake. Looking at her clock blearily, she sat up quickly with shock. She'd gone to sleep at 12 pm, and it was 10 pm now. She must have been really tired. She went through the motions like a robot, getting ready to go out into the desert with Jane once again. Cassi's mind was whirling with the possibilities and probabilities that this presented.

Finally they settled on only one: he was stolen, kidnapped by someone in the Court, probably Odin himself, during the war with the Frost Giants. He had been raised thinking he was of Asgard, but now that she really thought of it, she should have seen this sooner. He looked nothing like his parents or even Thor. He was lean, lithe, and relied more on his magic and cunning in battle than on brute-strength and weapons like the rest of the Asgardians she'd seen. Now she knew why he was treated as he was. Of course the Court knew about Odin's deception, they'd have remembered if Frigga had been with child at the time, especially so soon after giving birth to Thor. Loki couldn't be treated any differently than Thor, with outright hostility at least, or it would give the gig up. He was being used as a _bargaining chip._ It was disgusting. Perhaps Frigga had genuinely cared for him, from their interactions it sure seemed so, but this...

She hadn't noticed it, she'd been so deep in stewing in her anger, but her power escaped from her like a hot breeze, making everyone look around in confusion before shrugging it off. She was standing and glaring up at the sky through the sun roof in the van, hoping Heimdall or even Odin was looking here and sensed her ire. She vaguely heard Jane complain about how this event had been predicted to the second, so what the hell was wrong? when a sudden crack was heard and a massive tunnel with swirling rainbow lights inside of it appeared and _she knew what this was._ She was aware of her magic now; it had been so great, it was like a homing beacon for the BiFrost to latch onto. She hoped beyond hope that it was Odin coming through that portal so she could confront him.

She latched herself onto the sides of the sun roof opening, never taking her eyes off of the portal even as Darcy started to speed recklessly over the uneven landscape. She heard Jane telling Darcy to keep driving straight into it and Darcy saying she wasn't dying for six college credits. Suddenly, the van jerked to the side and hit the man that appeared out of the middle of the whirling storm. As Darcy, Erik and Jane sat, stunned, she wasted no time in jumping out of the vehicle to see who it was. Odin wouldn't have allowed himself to be hit by the vehicle, so she snorted a little as she saw who it was exactly that they had hit.

It was Thor.

Hot anger bubbled under her skin, and all she wanted to do was lash out at the man with her considerable power, but she could sense that he had been stripped of all of his powers and was a mortal now. She grinned maliciously for a second before forming her face into a mask of worry. She gripped him by the arm as she heard the others run up behind her as she helped him to his feet.

"Are you all right?" she asked shakily, looking back at Jane and seeing her expression on her face. Ah. Another fangirl. Just great. Maybe Jane could help him become humble. She stepped back as he started stumbling around the BiFrost site, yelling nonsense about "hammer" and "Father". She was slightly pleased that he was so discomposed, but he was a bumbling oaf at the best of times, so she couldn't blame him too much. She was amused when Darcy tazered him, but sighed when she realized she'd have to help carry him to the car.


End file.
